Inspire Me Thursday - "Control"

The California Bushfires
- Out of Control

My sympathies to anyone affected.

I dedicate this to my brother, Juian Bommer
recently made Professor of Earthquake Engineering
who knows this part of the world well

Click on the Image to ENLARGE

I must say, I'm enjoying this ink and watercolour palaver
this could be the start of something big!

Illustration Friday - "Grow" No.4

If you go down to the woods today you're sure of a big surprise!

N and I are very keen foragers.
This are the mushrooms we found this weekend near Faversham



Click on Images to ENLARGE

Illustration Friday - "Grow" No.3

Following on from my first 'Grow' post
this is a card I did about a year ago.
It was part of a project organized by the collective
that I'm part of, Monsters.
We designed a pack of Loteria cards,
based on the traditional Mexican bingo-like cardgame.

This one shows the Bell - La Campana,
but rather than feature a ringing bell
I chose to show an old-skool glass garden Cloche
with the bird perched on the top
singing ding dong

Click on the Image to ENLARGE

Illustration Friday - "Grow" No.2

The words
GROW and GREEN
both come
from the same
linguistic ROOT
apparently

Click on Image to ENLARGE
or Click on Name above to view my BLOG

Illustration Friday - "Grow"

Yesterday I bought myself a box of watercolours.

Never really used them before, but love the rich layering of washes. Its purty!

I'm a huge fan of permaculture/ self-sufficiency/ allotments/ grow your own.

Here's a line of ol' timey glass cloches protecting some emerging shoots.
I'm quite happy with that for a first attempt

Click on the Image to ENLARGE.

Guardian Education 23 October 07

Here's a piece I did last Friday for today's Guardian Education.

Written by the ever-brilliant Phil Beadle. it was an article about the links between Poverty and performance in Education, and twice mentions a "Magic Bullet", a single solution to all problems
So, here it is.... the Magic Bullet, waving his wand and erasing the cracks

I'm rather cheekily including this in this week's Illustration Friday. The topic is 'Grow' and what is Education if not a form of Growth (Discuss and summarize in under 100 words)?

Here's the ruffest of roughs that I sent them


Click on Images to Enlarge

Cafe Sketches, 16 Oct 07

Here's a couple of pages from my sketchbook
of people I drew on Tuesday
in Costa Coffee & Caffe Nero
on Old Compton St, London

Click on Images to ENLARGE

Illustration Friday - "Extremes" no.2

The ultimate extreme

Again, part of the forthcoming Monsters Playing Cards
(available Spring '08)

Love is the Devil
(That Ole Devil Called Love)

As always, Click on Image to ENLARGE
or Click on the Name above to View BLOG

Illustration Friday - "Extremes"

The two extremes of a playing card.

Part of a pack my collective, Monsters (www.monsters.co.uk), are producing.

Please may I present Her Right Royal Highness, the Queen of Clubs

Click o Image to ENLARGE

Illustration Friday - "Open" No.2

An Open Sandwich.

An honest sarnie fesses up to his hidden additives.

Freshly made today for IF*.

Click on Image to ENLARGE
or
Click on Name at the Top to View the Entire BLOG

Illustration Friday Night - "Inspired By..."

My first entry for IFN

This week the theme is "Inspired by"
where you create a piece based on,
or inspired by,
another piece recently posted on the site.

My piece is entitled
'The sad and predictable and, until now unknown, death of Patufet'
inspired by a piece of the same name by JVS
http://illustrationfridaynight.blogspot.com/2007/09/jvs-patu-xof.html

It concerns the Catalan folk story of the miniature boy Patufet.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patufet ). I love all things Catalan and would love to learn some more. So far I just work it out from my knowledge of French and Spanish.

In the story Patufet is accidentally eaten by an Ox and his mother has to feed it herbs in order to induce the Ox to fart out her son. Anyone who's experienced Catalan Christmas will know of their irreverent and earthy scatology - nothing perverse, just a levelling and hilarious 'we all shit, or we die'. The red shape next to the blood splatter is Patufet's traditional cap.

Click on the Image to ENLARGE

Illustration Friday - "Open"

Open Letter

This is a design I've just completed for a charity's promotional postcard.

The charity deals with people with severe and recurrent episodes of mental ill health,
in particular schizophrenia. The idea behind it is a friendly follow-up to help patients
stay in touch with the charity when back in the community at large and to remind them
they have somewhere to turn when things get rough.

Click on Image to ENLARGE
or click on the Name at the Top to view the entire BLOG

Recycled Image - "Whitehall"

Here's an image I created some time ago for the Guardian
about Immigration and the need for integration.
There's something about the character and setting that I love
but away from the copy
the reference points in the image
seemed confusing and unclear.

So this morning I have revamped the original illo
replacing the symbolic map
with a real map of Europe and chess pieces being moved across it.
The ultimate game of strategy
it seemed an appropriate ( and more general) metaphor
for the machinations of politics

(Kings and Queens could represent Heads of States/ Monarchies, Bishops religion, Knights the military, Rooks housing or
defense perhaps, and Pawns, the migratory workforce)

Here's the original , as it appeared in the Guardian:-



Click on Images to ENLARGE

Illustration Friday - "The Blues" No.4

Now you know why
the Bluebird of Happiness is
the way he is

Click on Image to ENLARGE
or
Click on the Name above to View my entire BLOG

Here are the roughs:-

Promotional Postcard

Recto

Verso

A recent promotional postcard mailout

Click on Images to ENLARGE

Illustration Friday - "The Blues" No.3

A piece I did a while back

I do love a bad pun

Click on the Image to ENLARGE
and/or
Click on the Name at the Top to View my BLOG

Illustration Friday - "The Blues" No.2

Sometimes
the BLUES

can lead to

the REDS
the WHITES
the ROSÉS, etc

Red red wine
makes me feel so fine
(Jeez, wasn't that Neil Diamond too!??)

Illustration Friday - "The Blues"

Me and you are subject to the blues now and then
As Neil Diamond once pertinently pointed out.

This is a sketch I did some time ago
'digitally remastered' ( let's say)
this morning
for Illustration Friday*

Click on Image to Enlarge
or Click on name at the top to view my entire Blog